Funding the Memphis Workers' Center

Fundraising is not a favor a board does for the staff. It is part of the job. A board member owes the organization a duty of care and a duty of loyalty, and for a small 501(c)(3) like W.I.N. that means making sure the money is there to keep the Workers' Center open. Nobody else can do it for you.

Start with your own checkbook. Between 59% and 68% of nonprofits have a written policy that every board member gives personally each year. Boards average 74% to 85% participation — but only about 46% actually hit 100%. That last gap is where credibility lives.

Here is the part boards misunderstand: board giving is usually less than 10% of total revenue. The dollars are not the point. The signal is. Foundations and major donors routinely ask whether 100% of the board gives, because if the people closest to the work will not invest in it, why should a stranger?

Two models. 'Give or get' lets a member write a check or raise the same amount from their network. 'Give and get' says lead with your own gift, then go ask. Give and get is stronger — it is hard to ask a stranger for $500 when you have not given a dollar. Set the expectation out loud when you recruit, not after someone has joined.